Alistair Overeem: 'I Have One Goal in Life and That's Becoming the UFC Champion'

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Alistair Overeem: 'I Have One Goal in Life and That's Becoming the UFC Champion'

"Yes absolutely (this is a fresh start)," Overeem told Bleacher Report. "I believe that both Browne and myself are top ranked fighters and the winner of this fight will be one step closer in getting a title shot, so in that sense I know this fight can put me right on track as I still have one goal in life and that's becoming the UFC heavyweight champion.

"I know there are more fighters going after that number one spot but with the nature of the sport anything can happen. So my main focus is my next fight and afterwards we will see who or when I will be fighting next."

The scrutiny surrounding Overeem since coming to the UFC has multiplied exponentially from his days fighting in Japan. He didn't make it easy on himself with the positive drug test in 2012, but after his last fight, more personal information about Overeem was released as part of the commission's testing process.

It was revealed after the fight with Silva that Overeem had dangerously low levels of testosterone in his body for the bout. Overeem was tested consistently by the Nevada Commission after his original test produced high results in 2012, and in the subsequent tests he came back with extremely low levels of testosterone, which can cause a myriad of health problems—many related to MMA.

As these issues hit the headlines, Overeem's athletic career intersected with his personal life. Overeem took it all in stride, however, saying that he signed up for this by deciding to become a professional fighter and that once that line is crossed, privacy is a thing of the past.

"I don't pay real attention to it all and it comes with the job anyway, being in the spotlight and fighting for so many fans over the world you become subject for personal things," Overeem said. "It's not always nice but at the end it's something you signed for when you wanted to be a professional fighter so it comes with the territory."

While Overeem's name in the headlines over the last couple of years has been as much about his out-of-competition life as what he's done in the cage, he's happy to turn the focus back on fighting.

Facing a very tough heavyweight in Travis Browne, Overeem knew this was a good way to get back into the title picture and erase the harsh memories of his last trip to the Octagon.

"Travis is a good fighter who has a pretty all-round game so he will be dangerous, I'm not going to underestimate him," Overeem said. "I just wanted to fight as quick as possible and Travis made the most sense to put together. A lot of other ranked fighters had their fight or got a fight scheduled so it was the most logical choice for the UFC to make as I told them that I didn't want to wait for a certain opponent."

Hopefully he learned his lesson and from now he will take his opponents seriously. Because BigFoot is not UFC championship material at all, and look what he did to the Reem.
Imagine what Cain, Cormier or JDS would do to him.

Travis Browne is not a joke, and if Overeem again comes overconfident, he can receive another surprise.

Confident Alistair Overeem focused on Travis Browne and moving on from setback against Antonio Silva

The former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion suffered a brutal knockout at the hands of Antonio Silva earlier this year in a fight which would have guaranteed himself a title shot had he won. While it was very demoralizing initially, the Dutch fighter tells Newsday he feels he's finally back on the right track after focusing on his training.

"Confidence is something you build up and build through training. Obviously, after my last fight, confidence was a little bit low. But you build it back up again with hard training and hard work. I would say my confidence level is good now."

Dwelling on the past isn't going to help anyone, and "The Reem" explains that putting his most recent loss behind him is one of the reasons he's been so successful the past five years.

"I don't really think about the last fight, actually. I don't look at things in the past. I focus on what needs to be done. If I were not that type of guy, I wouldn't be where I'm at now."

It's not like this was the first time the former "Demolition Man" had tasted defeat. Overeem had a pretty rough stretch from 2005-2007 where he lost seven of 13 bouts, getting knocked out or submitted in all but one of them. If he hadn't put those losses behind him, he'd have never gone on the 12 fight unbeaten streak over the next four years which nearly put him position to vie for the UFC Heavyweight title.

Next up for Overeem is fellow top 10 heavyweight Travis Browne, who he'll take on in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 26 next weekend (Aug. 17, 2013) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. It will be the first time UFC programming appears on the debuting network Fox Sports 1.

The current Blackzilian doesn't plan on making the mistake of underestimating his opponent again.

"I think he's a good up-and-coming fighter and I think he's aggressive, he goes for the kill. Yeah, definitely someone not to underestimate."

Keep your chin down and hands up, and don't being stupid and taking your opponents lightly, then maybe when you learn that you can push for the title.. That loss to Bigfoot really fucked him up in every way.

Oh man, I have one goal in life.... and that's seeing Cain have a sandwich on Overeem's back while he little brothers him, prior to Overeem being completely deflated and tapping to an RNC in quick fashion.